Journal of the Whills
by Cmdr's Monkey
Summary: A collection of drabbles, short one-shots, and other stories that otherwise are too short to post individually. Will feature most characters of Star Wars, including: Dooku, Obi-wan, Anakin, Qui-Gon, Palpatine and so on. UPDATED: 2-5-13
1. Darkness

**Title**: Darkness

**Characters**: Obi-wan Kenobi, Count Dooku

**Period**: The Clone Wars

**Type**: Adventure, Mystery

**Summary**: Obi-wan tries to stop Dooku from obtaining an ancient artifact.

_DARK DISCOVERY! WHILE DIGGING THROUGH AN ANCIENT BURIAL SITE ON THE PLANET ATHISS DEEP WITHIN THE ANCIENT SITH EMPIRE, REPUBLIC ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE UNEARTHED A MYSTERIOUS TEMPLE LONG FORGOTTEN TO THE SANDS OF TIME!_

_FEARING WHAT MAY BE DISCOVERED WITHIN, THE JEDI COUNCIL DISPATCHES OBI-WAN KENOBI AND ANAKIN SKYWALKER TO INVESTIGATE, ONLY TO DISCOVER UPON ARRIVAL THAT THEY ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES INTERESTED IN THE LOST SECRETS OF THE SITH EMPIRE!_

Lightsabers clashed and echoed throughout the ruined and ancient temple of the Sith Empire. Crimson and azure sparked a fiery dance across the faded hieroglyphs that etched the moss covered walls as the two duelists combated each other for control of the field.

"Where is your protege, Master Kenobi," taunted the Separatist leader as their blades locked together and brought them face to face. "Surely you are not confident in your swordsmanship to best me?"

"I am certain he is coming, Count," replied the sweating Jedi, though he did not quite feel the same confidence his tone conveyed. He had been fighting Dooku all around these ruins for the last ten minutes, trying to stop the fallen Jedi from going deeper into the ruins in search of whatever it was that beckoned to them all.

Kenobi could feel the Darkside permeate through the walls and into his flesh and bones and it left him feeling queasy in the stomach. Dooku did not seem to be affected by the aura around them but then again, Obi-wan should have known the Count would be more comfortable than he in this dark place.

_Anakin where are you?_ Obi-wan asked as he parried a strike that would have cleaved his legs off. He had no idea what was delaying his fellow Jedi Knight or how much longer he could hold out against Dooku.

Crimson and azure blades clashed in a whirl of fury, neither one getting closer to either welder nor gaining or losing ground. They seemed to be at an en passé in the duel and after a climatic clash that sent sparks flying, the two duelists separated for room and a brief respite.

"You've improved since we last fought, I commend you, Master Kenobi," Dooku genuinely praised, a rarity for him.

Flinging the Sith Lord's compliment back at him, Kenobi replied smartly; "And you have managed to compliment me, most impressive, Count Dooku."

The Count of Seranno glared at his opponent and raising his sword, he taunted with his free hand for Kenobi to attack. The Jedi Master complied and lunged forward with a sweeping arc of his blue lightsaber. Dooku pushed aside the attack with his own crimson blade and gestured with his hand to send Kenobi flying back against an altar. Ancient pottery and essence burners clattered and shattered on the stone floor of the ruins. Obi-wan struggled to his feet and raised his weapon up in time to block a downward strike from Dooku.

The two men circled each other after Kenobi gathered his bearings, neither man willing to yield to the other as they tested each others defenses. Dooku broke the silence between them, "You cannot win Kenobi..."

"That is not my plan, Dooku." The Sith Lord narrowed his eyes at the Jedi and then, abruptly, flicked his line of sight past his shoulder at something that caught his attention. People were running up the steps and the Count realized Kenobi had no intention to defeat him alone, only delay him long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

"You look a little pale, Count, perhaps you should sit down and surrender before you pass out. I would not want on my conscious an elderly gentleman getting hurt." Kenobi quipped and received a dark glare in return.

"Do not think a bunch of clones and two temperamental apprentices will discourage me from obtaining the power hidden in here, Master Kenobi!" Dooku disengaged his weapon and reached up with both hands above him. He called upon the Force and focused on the keystone that kept the rest of the ceiling from falling down. Grabbing the stone with an invisible grip, he yanked on it hard. Dirt and sand cascaded down from the disturbed ceiling as the stone moved an inch. With one more pull the stone came loose and crashed before Obi-wan Kenobi as the Jedi took a step back to avoid it.

"You must really be getting old if that is the best you can do," Kenobi taunted with an annoying smirk. It faded as a rumble began to crescendo in the ruins and he looked up in time to see the rest of the ceiling begin to collapse.

"You should use that brain of yours to mind your surroundings instead of insulting me, Master Kenobi!" Dooku shouted over the falling ceiling.

"Obi-wan!" cried Anakin as he watched in horror as the ruins collapsed around his master and Count Dooku. A great cloud of dust and dirt billowed from the collapse and despite the threat of more stone falling; Anakin, Ashoka and the clones rushed forward to start digging the Jedi Master out from under the rubble.

"Obi-wan!"


	2. Lost

**Title: **Lost

**Characters:** Count Dooku, implied Qui-Gon Jinn

**Period**: Immediately after TPM

**Type: **Angst

**Summary**: Dooku just missed Qui-Gon's funeral and contemplates why he came.

There was nothing left of the funeral pyre that had burned the remains of Qui-Gon Jinn into becoming one with the Force. There was not even a single mote of ash left to signify the passing of such a great Jedi. The Nubians were meticulous in their cleanup after the funeral. The only thing that even remotely suggested that there had been a funeral was a slight charring of the earth where the fire had burned the hottest.

Dooku knelt down and passed his hand over the scorched ground, closing his eyes as he stretched his senses through the Force, searching for something he did not expect to find. Memories flooded his mind at that moment, memories of a young boy equally as unruly as his master, and just as kind and understanding.

And wise.

Yet he did not sense any of those feelings or memories here in the Force, not from the scorched earth and the remnant of scents of burning pyre oil and wood. All he had was his own, personal memories of the padawan he had trained and come to love as his own son. He felt nothing in the Force that would have, should have told him that a Jedi had been consecrated here.

His fingers dug into the earth as he scooped up a handful of the burnt soil and held it in his hand, letting it fall between the digits back to the ground. There was nothing here, just like there was nothing in his own heart. Like the area around him, he felt empty inside and then a floodgate of emotions washed over him as his thoughts turned to ignorance that had been forced upon him.

Anger. Hatred. Rage.

His own masters had lied to him even though he knew in the Force that something had happened. The former Jedi clenched his hand around the remaining soil in the palm as he let his emotions roil through and around him. They had wanted to leave him in the dark until everything had been done and gone before telling him that his padawan had died and told him they did, after he had returned from his mission.

That was when he had felt it was the last straw. Disgusted at what his fellow Jedi were becoming, he had left the Order and everything he had ever known and cared about. He had intended to return to his family's home on Seranno but something tugged at the back of his mind, something urged him to come to Naboo instead.

So he went.

And found himself standing before a blackened ground wondering why.

What had he hoped to find here?

"Lies. Deceit." He muttered as he slowly stood, his disgust at the very thought of his padawan dying for an order that would hide his death from those who cared about him. "Even here there is nothing to suggest that you had lived and died, my friend. Only an emptiness in the Living Force."

The former Jedi Master sighed heavily and let the last of the soil drop from his hand and watched as it returned to the earth, only to be blown away in the gentle breeze that came upon the area. He felt the same tug in the Force he had felt before when he had left Coruscant and looked up, searching for the source.

He saw and felt nothing.

Just like there was nothing left inside of him to remain as a Jedi.

Dooku turned and pulled the hood of his cloak closer around him as he walked away; leaving behind the only sign that his padawan had once existed, and leaving behind the Jedi Master that had trained him.

Had he lingered just a little longer, he might have caught a glimpse of a saddened visage watching him.


	3. The Jedi's Apprentice

**Title:** The Jedi's Apprentice

**Characters**: Padawan Dooku and Padawan Jocasta Nu

**Period**: Pre-JA/JQ

**Type:** Humor

**Summary**: Two Padawans discover the consequences for trying to be clever.

"Clean this room, you shall," commanded the short green elf as his walking stick tapped his irritation against the floor as he paced before the two guilty padawans. "Learn from your mistakes, you will. Next time, will not be there I shall. Hmmm."

The little Jedi Master left the young padawans to do their task and one of them, a young boy who was currently going through a growth spurt and had shot up like a new sapling, looked around the training room with dismay. A blackened training room. "I think he's trying to kill us."

"We wouldn't be in this mess if _you_ hadn't decided we should skip our chores, Dooku," hissed another, a young human female who pinned her hair back with her padawan braid. The taller human simply glared at her and clenched his fists.

"Don't blame me for the stupid droids going haywire on us!" growled the boy. He ignored her and swiftly marched over to a bucket and grabbed the wash cloth, grumbling about Jedi Masters, droids and chores as he applied the cloth to the soot covered walls.

Jocasta simply sighed and joined him, replying in a gentler tone this time; "You're the one who programmed them to do our chores for us."

She was right though. He had thought it a stroke of brilliance to take two training droids and program them the basics for cleaning the room and sorting the equipment. They would have taken the two padawans' places for the chores given to them by another master while he and Jocasta snuck out to have some fun outside the temple. But the Force had not been with them and not five minutes after they had left the droids, Jedi were running to put out a fire.

Master Yoda had also caught them, looking unhappy and disappointed in them.

"I am in so much trouble when I'm done here," Dooku complained.

"Cheer up, it could have been worse. We could have burnt the whole temple down."

Dooku cringed.


	4. Younglings

**Title: **Younglings

**Characters: **Obi-wan Kenobi and Padawan Skywalker

**Period**: Shortly after TPM

**Type**: Humor

**Summary**: Obi-wan gets a taste of what the next ten years are going to be like for him.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

Of all the lifeforms his master had to pick up, why did it have to be a child? At least the Gungan knew when to be quiet when it was told to be quiet, but this young boy, half way to being a grown man, was too much. Oh he had made the promise to his master to train the boy and he would keep that promise, but there was no way in the Seven Hells of Andando could he remain sane with the same question being repeated over and over again.

"Are we there yet?"

"No." Obi-wan Kenobi answered for the umpteenth time on the return trip from Naboo to Coruscant. He could not fault the boy, however. Prior to the victory parade on Naboo, Kenobi had been given the permission to keep his promise to train the boy. Now they were returning back to the Temple so he could begin that training and Anakin had been wired ever since.

"Are. We. There. Yet?" the young padawan demanded again in a most annoying way a few minutes later.

"Anakin," Kenobi said as patiently as he could and wondered if Qui-Gon was watching, smiling in amusement at his predicament. _No doubt he would say this is good for me._ "Asking again will not change the answer."

"But it will eventually," replied the boy innocently.

Obi-wan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. What did he do to deserve this?

"Are we there..."

"NO!"


	5. Delusions of the Force

**Title: **Delusions of the Force

**Characters: **Jedi Master Dooku and Komari Vosa

**Period**: Pre-Bounty Hunter

**Type**: Angst

**Summary**: Captured by the Bando Gora and tortured, Komari Vosa's mind does whatever it takes to survive her torment.

She knew nothing except pain and hallucinations. The Bando Gora were unforgiving towards her and despite all her resentment and hatred toward the Jedi, she often found herself crying out for her master to come and rescue her.

But he never came.

Except in her dreams, her delusions induced by the death stick drug her Bando Goran captors kept injecting her with. In her dreams, her hallucinations, her master had defied the Council, defied tradition, defied the rules and gave in to her infatuation for him or came to her rescue, killing the thugs that held her prisoner. In one he had expertly dispatched every single criminal in the encampment, sparing none and showing no mercy.

In another he had simply knelt beside her and whispered her encouragement, to survive, to fight the drug. But the toxin was too strong for her to fight and that hallucination soon became twisted and all her fears, hatred and anger toward him and the Jedi manifested itself into a scorning and disappointed master which further fueled her hatred for him.

There was no respite from the delusions. Confused and helpless, Komari Vosa had no choice but to endure them, to let them shape her into a survivor.

"Yes, you are a survivor, my padawan," the hallucination encouraged. She looked up at him, he was shadowed in darkness, a dark cloak hid his features but she knew it was her master or at least it appeared to be him anyway. This time he was being the gentler master rather than the cruel one she had come to hate and believe him to be. "These Bando Goran thugs are no match for the strength that you possess within your heart."

"My heart is what got me into this," she whispered.

"And it will be your heart that which sets you free, Padawan. Simply listen to it, open yourself to the Force," he—it—argued. The phantom walked over to her and held a hand out to her and she simple stared at it. "All you have to do is accept your fate and your destiny, my Padawan. Kill the criminals and show them a true master of the Force and then you can show the Jedi the same courtesy."

Her master was right. She could and would show these vile creatures that she was no mere pushover, no plaything to torment, no subject to test their vile drug on. She would show them the true power of the Force and then turn that power on the Jedi.

Komari Vosa accepted the hand offered to her and stood before her _master_. "I will show them. I will show them all, and you, master." He said nothing and simply stared at her, waiting for something. She did not hesitate to get her revenge and before she blasted her cell door open with a powerful push of the Force, she turned to him and placed a passionate kiss upon his phantasmal lips.

"For good luck?" he asked.

"No, just a kiss, Master Dooku," disappointment laced her tone as he slowly faded from her sight.

The screams of the Bando Gora were a harmonious symphony to her ears.


	6. There Is Not a Way Out

Title: There Is Not a Way Out

Characters: Dooku

Timeline: TCW, just before Dark Rendezvous

Summary: They say the dreamscape is our subconscious trying to tell us something about our lives, for Count Dooku it is a nightmare that he cannot escape.

* * *

**There Is Not a Way Out**

Writing cannot comfort me tonight, but I must pen this down anyway. Dreams, they say it is the subconscious trying to tell you something about yourself and life. I never believed that but after this one, I am not so sure anymore.

I don't dream often anymore. I had learned to sleep without them and yet when I do dream on those rare occasions, they are nightmares. This one is no different from the others that I have had since this war began.

I am in the Temple on Coruscant. The grand halls are empty. I am alone. There is no one else here. No sound, no buzz of quiet conversation, not even the laughter of children and friends.

I am alone, as I knew I would always be. Yet I do not wish to be alone, especially here. The halls as I remember them use to feel overwhelmingly stifling from all the Jedi that had resided here. Now the place seems too big with no one here.

Overwhelmingly big that I feel more stifled and claustrophobic from the emptiness than I ever had when it was occupied. I cannot stand the void that the empty halls of the Temple were creating. I do not want to be alone, but alone I am.

My feet carry me through the courtyard and the Grand Hall; past the empty chambers and training salons, no soul within when I knew there should be someone sparring. The gardens are just as empty and dead as everything else, the once crystal clear waters had become brackish and the plant life petrified with time. How long have the halls of this Temple been empty? I had seen no sign of the passage of time until now. I would have looked further but I have no control over my feet.

They carry me forward and past the grand library of the Jedi Archives, of what I could see the chamber was the same as everywhere else. Empty. Where there should have been students and masters and knights perusing the computers and stacks, there was only the quiet hum of electronics and the twenty busts of the Lost. There was no one within, not even Jocasta whom I knew would choose to die there rather than abandon the place.

I continued on past other places I recognized and felt the pain of emptiness from each one. There was nothing here. No Jedi anywhere. Even I did not count as one and even if I had, the thought of being the only one there, was disturbing. I was alone.

The dream carried me into the central lift that would take me to the top of the central spire. I was not surprised to find it as empty as every place else. There should have been an aide at the desk delegating the appointments waiting outside the Council chamber. Jedi and dignitaries both. The grand doors were open and I unwillingly approached the empty chamber within. The twelve seats were vacant, even Master Yoda's was empty and it seemed so strange to see it thus so.

As soon as I stepped inside the chamber, the doors shut behind me and I regain control of my body. I tried to leave, not wanting to be locked in the empty chamber alone. I did not like being alone, especially here. The doors would not open.

A sound caught my attention and I turned to see the large windows of the tower had disappeared along with the cityscape beyond them. I felt a warm breeze and heard the crash of ocean waves as I cautiously stepped past the seats and out onto the cliff of some grass plains. Beyond the edge was a frothing sea and out into the open grasslands a herd of nerfs were peacefully grazing. But the peace I felt here could not last. It never does in my dreams, making it feel like I am desperately trying to grasp onto it but only to lose it as I do.

I was right. I wish I hadn't been. A loud explosion erupted in the midst of the herd and I felt in the Force the peace shatter and the nerfs wink out of existence from the exploding ordinance. Their pain and terror became mine for a brief moment and I tried to shut it out as a battle broke out between clonetroopers and droids. I backed up to get away from the fighting and the dying clones and wildlife. What I was picking up in the Force was too intense even for my liking. It was as if the Force was crying in pain with each life that was destroyed, even the burning grass caused the Force to scream.

My hands clutched at my head. I tried to block it out. I tried to close myself to the Force but I couldn't. The life that was dying would not allow me to focus. I stepped back further to get away, feeling disoriented and in pain from the Force.

I felt my foot meet air and I cried out in shock and terror as I realized I had backed too far and right off the cliff side. I fell, desperately grasping at nothing to halt my decent. The cliff grew smaller and smaller and smaller until it was nothing but a pinprick above me. I knew I should have hit rock bottom long before than but do not understand why. I was falling and it seemed endless and to last forever.

Then, when I began to believe that it would never come to an end, a great splash sprayed all around me as I finally crashed into a body of water. I swam upward, the bright surface not far and yet seemed very much so. My lungs began to burn as I struggled to reach the light, my hands reaching out for it and unable to break through. I could feel the darkness surrounding my vision, clouding it. I did not wish to die this way and tried to will the surface to me. It would not come and I came no closer. The darkness consumed me as I drowned in its murky waters.

I awoke again in a village. I know not how I got there, only that I was. I wasn't alone this time. There were people shambling about in a dazed like state. But something was terribly wrong. Contusions grew on their skin where it was exposed. They looked tired and ill. They did not notice me except for three children. I recognized them.

Jedi children.

But more than that. I knew Qui-Gon no matter what age he was. The second was a face I did not wish to see, but there was no mistaking the blonde tresses and piercing blue eyes of my former best friend, Lorian. The last was of an impish Jocasta and the haunted look in her eyes were reflected in the others and chilled me to the core. They moved toward me, crying and gasping in pain as the dark sickened them, their faces pleading for mercy. I shook my head and tried to step back from this twisted horror of the three people that had meant something to me at some point in my life, but my feet were rooted in place.

They kept coming until all three collapsed at my feet in a dead heap. Their empty eyes staring up at me, accusingly. I could not look anymore and closed my eyes, wishing this nightmare would come to an end.

I knew it would not. They never do when I want them to. The Force was cruel that way.

When I opened my eyes again I was back in the Temple but this time it was not empty. There were bodies everywhere, of Jedi and clones, masters and younglings. The pain I could feel in the Force as I picked up on the sounds of fighting was overwhelming. I retreated from the sight, seeking sanctuary in a room that manifested into the Council chamber. I closed the doors with the Force and barricaded it with the chairs.

The sounds of fighting drew closer. The growing dark hungered. I wanted out. The dark is seeping through. I turned in search of a way out. The dark is coming. I could not find a way out.

It is coming.

I cannot find a way out.

It is coming.

There isn't a way out.

It is coming.

There is... not a way...

**END**


	7. Aftermath

**Title: **Aftermath

**Genre: **Hurt/Comfort

**Characters:** Qui-Gon, Obi-wan, Garen Muln, Dooku

**Summary: **Qui-Gon is recovering from being rescued and Obi-wan frets.

**Author Notes: **For The1stJediPrincess, for Fic Gift challenge. The background setting of this story was originally going to be _the_ story, but I couldn't figure out how to get The1stJediPrincess requirements into the plot. So I figure, hey why not do the _aftermath_ of such an adventure, should be plenty of hurt/comfort going on then. Right? So yeah, after three plots and a dozen start attempts, I finally came up with this. Unfortunately I do not read the JA series, so I do not know Garen except what wookieepedia says and somehow Dooku managed to worm his way into the story. Enjoy everyone :D

**Aftermath**

"Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear."  
– Corrie Ten Boom

It was suppose to have been a simple reconnaissance mission for a murder investigation involving two Senators, one having been brutally murdered by the other. What was suppose to have been simple turned into something incredibly complicated that Qui-Gon was certain it would have won a Golden Galactic Award with the entertainment industry for Best Holo had it been made into a holovid. He was suppose to have only observed a meeting between the assassins and their benefactor and what he found out had surprised him so much that he hadn't noticed the danger to himself.

Now he lay in the Healing Ward of the Jedi Temple recovering from his misadventure in which he had to be rescued not only by his new padawan, but by his old master as well. He wasn't sure which he smarted from the more. Being rescued by Obi-wan whom he has only trained for about a year or being rescued by Dooku whom he hadn't spoken to for years until recently. In fact, it was Dooku who had gotten him into the mess he found himself in. If it hadn't been for his former Master getting involved without telling him, Qui-Gon was certain he wouldn't have been captured and _interrogated_ by the murderers.

Sporting a broken nose and arm, bruises and cuts in places he didn't know could hurt so much, Qui-Gon wished for the oblivion of sedatives and a bath in a bacta tank. He would have been granted at least the first, except his padawan currently fretted over him and seemed more worried that he would not wake up if he was put under. He could not blame the boy though. When Obi-wan and Dooku had found him, he was half conscious and probably looked like he had been put through a meat grinder.

He certainly felt like it.

"Obi-wan," called another boy, an Initiate that had once posed as Obi-wan to thwart his former padawan, Xanatos, in a plot to destroy the Temple, and who became fast friends with Obi-wan. "I'm certain Master Jinn doesn't need to be watched like a hawkbat by you. He's in good hands, so I doubt he will do anything that will inconvenience everyone."

"I certainly would not want to inconvenience anyone at all with an untimely departure," commented the Jedi Master a little nasally and amused. His nose, although reset by a Healer, was still swollen and wore a blue cast to keep it from re-breaking. It left him with the inability to speak clearly.

"I'm not henpecking, Garen," protested the fourteen year old boy. He was worried and being reminded at how close he almost lost his master after having just gained him not a year ago, Obi-wan was determined to see to it that Qui-Gon healed up right and was back on his feet soon. "Besides, it is a Padawan's duty to make sure his master is well and cared for."

"But not to the point where you annoy him to death."

"I'm not..."

"Enough you two." Qui-Gon gave them both looks that he wouldn't have them arguing over how to care for him. "I appreciate the concern and willingness to see to it that I'm comfortable, but until I've had my bacta bath, there is little you can do for me Obi-wan. You've done enough already by seeing to it that I survived. Now, I do believe that is Healer Ioyna coming to take me away for my bacta treatment. You boys behave and Obi-wan..."

"Yes, Master?"

"Try not to worry yourself sick while I'm out." The Jedi Master gave him a reassuring smile and a pat on his shoulder with his good arm. Obi-wan nodded solemnly and stepped away from the medical bed when the elderly Ioyna approached. He would have helped his master out of the bed except the Healer seemed to have it all under control. Kenobi followed after them to make sure Qui-Gon was safely secured in the tank and asleep before he allowed himself to relax a little.

"Padawan Kenobi, Initiate Muln," Madame Ioyna turned to them once Qui-Gon was out like a light. "You two do not have to stay. I will let you know if there are any complications with his treatment."

"Complications?" Obi-wan asked, his blue eyes flickering between Ioyna and his master. "What kind of complications?"

The Jedi healer expression was impassive but the two boys could sense that there was something wrong that neither of them had been told about by either the healers or by Qui-Gon. "You need not worry. He is in good hands." With that said she walked out without answering Obi-wan's concern, which did not reassure the padawan one bit.

"I'm certain its nothing, Obi-wan." Garen stepped next to him as Kenobi stood in front of his master's bacta tank. The padawan placed a hand on the plexiglass and reached out to the bond he shared with the man and only found it feeling numb, suppressed. He wondered if it were the drugs or if Qui-Gon had subconsciously closed the link to spare his apprentice of whatever the Healer was concerned about.

"You didn't see him when Master Dooku and I first found him," Obi-wan snapped, tired of being told that everything would be fine. Everything wasn't fine. He almost lost his master and he felt like he was on the verge of still losing him. After all he had been through to get Qui-Gon as his master, Kenobi was determined to keep him. Force be damned was he going to allow a bunch of thugs and a corrupt politician prevent him from becoming a Jedi Knight under Qui-Gon's tutelage. "They almost killed him. I almost lost him."

The last was said quietly.

Garen shifted on his feet restlessly, uncertain how best to comfort his friend and convey to him that everything _would_ be alright. The boy placed a hand on Obi-wan's shoulder. "He's tough. It'll take more than what he's been through for you to get rid of him. He gave Kenobi an awkward grin along with his attempt to lighten the mood and cheer the padawan up.

"I don't want to get rid of him, Garen." Muln rolled his eyes at the older boy and it took the padawan a moment to realize what his friend was trying to do. "Oh... right."

"Come on," Garen took him by the arm and turned him away from the unconscious and healing Jedi Master. "Lets go to the training sally and spar a bit while he heals."

"I don't know..." Obi-wan pulled his arm out of the Initiate's grip. "I feel I should stay."

"And the Force feels you will end up in here if you do. I'm certain it would be hilarious to the other masters that Master Jinn allowed his padawan to die from worry." Garen grabbed the older boy by the arm again and pulled him away from Qui-Gon's bacta tank. "Madame Ioyna said she'll let us know if anything happens. Now come on, Obi-wan Kenobi. I will tell Master Jinn that you were afraid to face an Initiate in a sparring match."

"You wouldn't."

"I would and you know it."

"Fine, lets go." Garen rolled his eyes and followed his friend out of the Healer's Ward.

It was probably a good thing that Garen had managed to get Obi-wan out of the Healer's Ward for a while. For what happened a couple hours later would have been made a lot more complicated with a worried padawan getting in the way. They were in their third match when both of them felt it in the Force. Something was happening elsewhere in the Temple and immediately Obi-wan had searched across the training bond just to be certain. What he had felt sent him racing back to the Healer's Ward without even bothering to hook his lightsaber back to his utility belt.

Both boys found themselves trying to get in to see Qui-Gon but none of the Healers or their padawans would tell them anything or allow them into the bacta room. Obi-wan paced in the hallway and asked anyone who was a healer if they knew anything. They didn't see or hear from Madame Ioyna and learned, at least, that she was in surgery with a patient. That knowledge alone did not help calm Obi-wan.

After an hour, Garen managed to get Obi-wan to sit down on a bench and the padawan buried his head in his hands. "I'm going to lose him, aren't I?" He looked up at his friend, tears brimming in his eyes at the thought of losing his master so soon. "I... I cannot feel him across the bond. It's weak... closed."

"But you can feel him, right?" the younger boy asked. "I mean, he's still here isn't he?"

Obi-wan paused thoughtfully before closing his eyes and stretching out into the Force. He may not be able to feel his master along the bond they shared, but Garen was right. He could still feel Qui-Gon's presence, but it was weakened.

"Yes, I can sense him, sorta."

"Hey who is that?" Garen gestured over to a tall Jedi Master who was speaking to one of the Healers in the doorway of another room that just opened. Obi-wan looked and was surprised to see the older Jedi here. He remembered Dooku staying long enough to see to it that his master was taken care of and then had quickly departed.

"That's Master Dooku. I thought he didn't care," Obi-wan whispered and then hurried over in the hopes that the older Jedi knew something and would tell him. "Master Dooku!"

The graying master turned slightly to face the person who had called out to him. His usual stern expression dropping briefly in sympathy when he recognized the padawan of his padawan. "Thank you, Claine. Keep me informed of any changes. Padawan Kenobi, Initiate," he said at last to the young boys once the healer had left to take care of other duties. "I take it you felt it, Obi-wan?"

"Yes." Obi-wan glanced around the older master to take a look behind him and into the room that he had come from with the other healer. What he saw had him moving but a firm grip on his shoulder by the taller master kept him from entering the room. "Let me go!"

"You will do him little good by rushing in there full of emotion, boy." Dooku chided and waited for the padawan to gather his composure before letting go of him.

"What happened?" Garen asked from behind Obi-wan, equally as worried and fearful for Qui-Gon but better at hiding it at the moment. Perhaps it was because Qui-Gon was not his master and therefore did not have the same connection as Obi-wan had.

"There was a... complication," Dooku began to explain once he was certain he had Kenobi's attention and that the boy would not run into the room. "He started bleeding internally from a ruptured artery. The machinery caught the changes in his vitals and I alerted the healers in time. He just got out of surgery."

Obi-wan dreaded asking how he was but then he noticed what Dooku had said. He had been there when it happened. "You were there?"

"Yes. I was checking up on him." Dooku quirked a brow at the disbelief he heard in the boy's voice. "Why is that surprising to you?"

"You left."

"Ah. I suppose that would give the wrong impression." He smiled warmly and glanced into the room the object of their conversation was currently residing in. "I made sure he was cared for before leaving to give my report, which you have yet to submit to the Council."

"I've been um... preoccupied." Obi-wan reddened a little for his negligence of duties. The Jedi Master patted him on the shoulder and stepped aside to give him access to the room. Obi-wan didn't hesitate to enter and he and Garen stepped past the taller Jedi.

"Understandably, considering the nature of the distraction. Obi-wan," Dooku waited for the Padawan to face him again.

Obi-wan was torn between stopping to see what Dooku wanted and going to his master's side as he lay there quietly in a bed, hooked up to a transfusion machine and sleeping peacefully. "Yes, Master?"

"He will be fine." For some reason Obi-wan believed the older master and that made it all the easier to return to his master and quietly watch over him. The fear of losing him no longer gripping at his heart.

**END**


	8. Ultimate Drabble Challenge 7 Week 1

**Title:** Ultimate Drabble Challenge 7 Week 1

**Genre: **Drabbles

**Characters:** Dooku and Qui-Gon

**Summary**: Dooku's perspective of Qui-Gon growing up and dying.

**Author's Notes**: UDC is a writer's challenge over on the JC Forums. 5 one hundred word drabbles a week for 20 weeks.

**Baby**

The first time he had met Qui-Gon, he had been eleven. He had gotten into trouble again and Master Naki assigned him to the creche to care for the infants. Dooku curled his lip at the sight of the children, "I am not changing them."

"Yes you will," commanded Naki sternly. "You will do what Madame Yoo'nik tells you." She then left and Dooku, drawn to a child, gave in to his fate.

"Qui-Gon Jinn," he read the nameplate on the crib. The baby looked up and gurgled a laugh. "You don't seem too bad."

**Child**

The next time he had seen Qui-Gon, it was a year before his own Knighthood. The baby he had cared for a week had grown into a lanky child. But that mattered not to Dooku, he was interested in his lightsaber technique.

"His Shii-Cho is perfected," he commented quietly to himself as he observed the boy spar with a dark skinned Initiate. "But he likes Ataru... Wait? He knows the Way of the Ysalamiri?" Dooku was impressed and as he probed the child's aura in the Force, he knew that this Qui-Gon Jinn would be _his_ future Padawan.

**Teenager**

Dooku was twenty-six when his teenage Padawan snuck out of their apartment. Curious as to where his student could be off to, the Master quietly followed the boy through the quiet halls. He was impressed at how well Qui-Gon avoided the nocturnal Jedi but confused as to why he went to the gardens.

He had thought his Padawan was up to no good. What he found instead should have been obvious.

"How is he?" asked Tahl. Cradled in Qui-Gon's hands was a tiny animal that Dooku had somehow missed. The master shook his head and let the friends be.

**Adult**

Ten years to the day since he had taken Qui-Gon as his Padawan, he had proudly watched as the eleven year old boy grew from a child into a man, a Padawan into a Knight.

"Congratulations, my Padawan," he praised with a rare smile. "I hope you plan on taking a Padawan soon to join me as a Master?"

Qui-Gon shook his head, "No, I am not as eager to teach so soon like you were."

"Pish-posh," Dooku replied. "You are more than capable. Force knows, you will at least know what _not_ to do."

**Elderly**

Dooku was old and he regretted deeply that he had lived for so long while another died far too soon. Qui-Gon should have reached a ripe old age and not himself, but the Force decided otherwise.

_No, the Council chose his fate,_ he bitterly denied. _They killed him by sending them alone._

He blamed the old fools that sat in the tower. If they had just listened, had believed Qui-Gon that the Sith had returned, his Padawan would be alive and he would not be seeking the Sith.

_I will have revenge,_ he vowed before greeting another friend. "Chancellor."


	9. Ultimate Drabble Challenge 7 Week 2

**Title: **Ultimate Drabble Challenge 7 Week 2

**Genre**: Drabbles

**Characters:** Qui-Gon, Obi-wan, Anakin, Palpatine, Dooku

**Summary**: Even Jedi have bad days and issues.

**Healthy**

"It will be good for you," said Qui-Gon while trying to offer his young Padawan a glass of green liquid that looked revolting to the young teen.

"I don't think pureed Dagobah vine snapper would be healthy, Master," replied the boy, who then coughed into his sleeve.

"Hmm... It is either this or Bant experimenting on you." The older man made a show of tasting the concoction with a sip and even he made the briefest of grimaces. Obi-wan gave him a doubting look in return.

"I'll take my chances with Bant."

"Suit yourself, Obi-wan."

**Injured**

Obi-wan stared confoundedly at the little bipedal reptoid as it hopped around the starship. "What could possibly be so bad about it, Master?"

"You've no idea," Qui-Gon replied in the most deadpanned voice Kenobi has ever heard him speak in. "The last time I encountered one of these, my master and I spent a month cleansing the Temple of an infestation."

"Master, surely you're not considering killing it? It's only an animal."

"It is a plague."

It gave Qui-Gon an injured look.

"Then its a cute one and you've hurt its feelings."

"_Gizka!"_

**Sick**

"Do I have to?" whined the blonde boy before he gave an awful sneeze that sent his braid swinging.

"Yes, Padawan," Obi-wan replied and held out the tiny cup with a purple liquid. "It's either this or taking my master's concoction instead." He smirked a little at the irony and the memory of when he had been sick. "Trust me, this tastes much better."

"I dunno." Anakin eyed the medicine dubiously before reaching out and taking it from the older man. He drank it and made a face reminiscent of a sick rancor. "Yuck!"

**Stressed**

"You don't sound so good," stated Qui-Gon as he and his former master stood in the Temple gardens. "Was your last mission that bad?"

"You've no idea."

"I thought it was a simple peace talk between trade worlds?"

"So did I," answered the older man. He sat down on a nearby bench and ran a hand through his hair. "But someone neglected to tell me that shouting was customary in discussions. If you weren't shouting, you were not worth listening too."

"That explains your voice," empathetically replied Qui-Gon.

"I need a vacation."

**Frustrated **

"It's not fair," complained the tall Jedi Knight as he paced back and forth across the crimson carpet of the Chancellor's office. "How can I be on the Council and _not_ be a master?"

"It is clear that they do not believe you are worthy." The Knight paused to look at his friend and mentor, the frustration and anger clear in his eyes despite his best efforts to control them.

"They don't trust me."

"It is dark times indeed when the Jedi cannot trust their own."

"They don't trust you."

"As I feared."


	10. Ultimate Drabble Challenge 7 Week 3

**Title: **Ultimate Drabble Challenge #7 Week 3

**Genre: **Drabbles

**Characters:** Han/Leia, Luke/Mara, Sidious, Tyranus, Vader, Plagueis, Piett

**Summary: **Everyone has attachments, except true Sith.

**Attraction**

Han Solo was not a believer that opposites attract, at least not until he had met the Princess. She was use to being served and having people obey and respect her. He was just a dirty scoundrel who could lie, cheat and swindle her father's crown out from under him if he so wanted.

So how exactly did they end up attracted together, much less married?

"It was that fight in the detention block," he mused with a smile. "When she took Luke's blaster and shot the grate. She stole my heart like a true scoundrel. Who knew?"

**Love**

"What is love to you, Tyranus?"

"A weakness."

"That is the Sith philosophy, but you were not always thus to think so," Sidious reminded. "So I ask again, what is love to you?"

The apprentice was quiet, reluctant to answer. Sidious was patient and waited until the older man gathered his thoughts to answer. When he did, Tyranus was quiet, "Peace. Unequivocal trust. To know it will be returned."

"You have loved before." A statement.

"Yes."

"Ah," Sidious wore an amused smile. "So the revered Jedi Master has strayed after all."

**Commitment**

"The Jedi Way is the way of duty, apprentice," stated the Muun. "They can be expected to remain dutiful to their convictions, to the Republic and their Code. Duty is a weakness."

"How so?" the exhausted and young red-headed Sith inquired.

"Because duty can be exploited. We will use their duty against them," Plagueis' smile was as bitterly cold as the Mygeeto snow around them. "We will make them serve us and their duty will compel them to obey."

"What is to stop them from fulfilling their duty to slay us?"

"The Chancellorship."

**Marriage**

It was just a documentary, however, it ended up being the most offending thing Mara Jade had ever seen. "I did _not_ do that at our union."

"Do what exactly, Mara?"

"That!" she gestured at the scene currently showing her look-a-like being very out of character with a bunch of birds.

Luke laughed a little but cut it short at the look he received from his wife. He gave her his farmboy smile and embraced her from behind, "It could be worse."

"Not a word, Skywalker."

"They could have documented your time with Lando."

**Anniversary**

Piett swallowed thickly as he entered the dark sanctum that was Lord Vader's meditation chamber. The room was dim and he could not see Vader which worried him. He noticed something off to the left curiously. _That_ he hadn't seen before and he wondered why there was a hologram of a woman. Curious, he stepped over to exam her and thought she looked familiar.

"Padmè Amidala," a raspy voice said and Piett jumped to see Vader standing in the shadows without his mask. "She died twenty years ago." The captain swore he heard remorse in the Sith's tone.


End file.
